Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of locating and placing reinforcement bars in the concrete structures, and more particularly to the rod chair devices and the manufacture thereof
2. Related Art
Reinforcing concrete structures by reinforcement steel bars is a well-known art in the construction industry. It is common knowledge that reinforcement bars are more easily placed in engineered appropriate locations in the forms for pouring concrete by the use of the common wire rod chairs with reinforcement rods attached to the chairs by tie wires or the like. These rod chairs are difficult to manufacture, require some spot welding, which often breaks, and the machinery to manufacture same are expensive and require substantial maintenance and are prone to extended downtime. A less expensive rod chair that is fabricated from sheet metal with a minimum of waste, is of minimum weight and is stackable and less costly to package and ship and does not require tying the reinforcement rod to the chair is needed to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.
The present invention is related to improved rod chairs for positioning and supporting reinforcement rods in concrete structures. The rod chair includes an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, and a planar portion that includes a pair of spaced generally curved end walls and a pair of generally horizontal parallel flanges extending downwardly from the planar portion. The elongated body includes at least one finger formed integrally from the planar portion and extends upwardly above the plane of the planar portion for holding a reinforcement rod therebeneath. The finger forms a hook that has a curved body portion for sandwiching the reinforcement rod between the planar portion and the inner surface of the curve body of the hook. The hook preferably includes a rib formed in the inner surface to rigidify the hook and to enhance the holding of the reinforcement rod.
The planar portion includes at least one slot from which at least one finger is cut out. The slot has three free sides and the at least one finger forms a fourth side of the slot, the slot has a width slightly larger than the width of the finger to permit stacking of the rod chair onto an identical rod chair.
The elongated body terminates with a pair of elongated and spaced stabilizing leg portions respectively integral with the end walls to support the planar portion spatially above the ground. Each stabilizing leg portion includes a recess cut-out, which has a lip that extends inwardly, disposed between a pair of spaced oppositely disposed legs to permit bifurcation and separation angularly of the stabilizing leg portion into two legs. Each one of the legs has a pair of planar faces perpendicular with each other and one elongated foot integral with at least one of the planar faces and each foot extends transversely of the longitudinal axis to support the planar portion and the reinforcement rod, which is carried by the rod chair. The elongated foot has a lower surface disposed on the ground and an elongated rib that extends upwardly from the lower surface.
The elongated body preferably includes a plurality of fingers to support as many reinforcement bars as desired. The body may also include a pair of spaced indexing apertures positioned spacedly from the central transverse axis of the body for manufacturing guides.